10 days after my convocation ceremony. This is a moment where my client mentioned that after 3 sessions with me, she felt that she could conquer the world because of my faith in her.
There was also another client last year who told me that because of my trust in her, she wanted to heal herself. To her, all of these are precious moments because when we are seen for who we are, magic happens.
Both of them mentioned that being in the room with me, made them feel like a baby: being embraced in a non-judgemental way. How coincidental!
However, when I was a trainee, I was not having doubts about their progress, but doubts about myself. Coming from a past critical environment before I restarted my whole clinical journey again in a different place, where I once was criticized as "not suitable" along with many other painful, inappropriate remarks - I noticed the heavy feeling of nostalgia and disbelief to be able to give myself another chance to try again.
Thankfully, my three supervisors at the time, are so encouraging and supportive to me. Each time I have my supervision , they believe in me by allowing me to express my creativity, individuality and stance in evidence-based therapeutic approaches.
After these long years, I can finally see why the clients said that to me. By having faith in myself, I can also extend the faith to my clients by allowing them to feel safe, connected and open in the room, with me.
It amazes me and, I noticed that anything is possible in this world. Miracles, perseverance, coincidences, resilience, faith, kindness- after all, the universe is big. It makes me optimistic again.
Interestingly, there's also a famous statement online where if we can love ourselves, only then we can love others well. Based on my personal growth, I don't agree with it because whenever I feel unloved by having flashbacks, I choose to show up for myself and others every day until now.
Although the pain is no longer there, it definitely shapes me as a human that I am thankful for. I'm also thankful that in reality, it's not anything to do with the past mentioned before. It's all the projection and assumptions about me in a one-sided way - which is actually common in life.
Hence, there's no "fixated" timeline about how a person can be healed.
There's also no rigidity around the "perfect therapist".
We are from the mental health field, practising non-judgemental stances, let's practise it on ourselves and others more frequently- not just in the therapy room, but during daily tasks too. It's the congruency and upholding the ethical, supportive, professional approach while gaining wisdom, love and patience.
So, this whole experience makes me see that all of us are flowers. We have natural instincts, talents, guts and intuition. If we grow ourselves in a warm, loving environment, we will bloom with uniqueness and a timeless beauty.
"You have always been enough."
Have a good day, you deserve all the love.